Thank you so much Tracey. It's been such a great 4.5 years (and 2 kids!), with lots of ups and downs, but No S is so simple and so sane that I never stray far. Now that I'm done with pregnancy and nursing I'm looking forward to settling into No S maintenance. However, given I don't live in a culture that supports moderate eating, I check in here (sometimes more, sometimes less) for the wonderful community here.

Monday 30th - cycling to and from work
Tuesday 31st - had a medical procedure today that will prevent exercise tonight, however I organised things so I could walk to my appointment, so maybe that counts?

and i also plan to check in for long time just to make sure not to "forget" about noS in this less and less sane eating cultures we live in...

oh. and for me all moving /exercising counts that is outside my regular moving which means going to and back from work, 2 times a day... and then moving at work... 3-4 days a week... all that doesnt count... part of the routine and used to be counted in my activiti level when i was calorie counting...
but then everything else (with common sense, of course) counts... especially choices of going on foot or bicycle instead taking the car... _________________Age:40
BMI: 18.8
Body Fat %: 17.6
in it for maintenance and, more importantly, sanity!!

Thanks Linda. It certainly gives us pause to consider our close military ties, but I'm hopeful that calmer heads will prevail

Begin random politics rant/ Actually, I agree the people on Manus Island shouldn't be sent to the US, but not for the reasons I imagine the Cheetos in Chief thinks. The vast majority of men on Manus have been deemed genuine refugees, and the Australian government (both left and right leaning) have been illegally imprisoning them for years on the pretext that this will stop people smugglers. Has it stopped boats - impossible to know with the weird secrecy and difficulty journalists have in getting access. Most likely it has just been a cruel use of human lives to score political points. My view is that they should ALL be brought here, resettled and supported in Australia. I imagine some of them will have PTSD and need additional services, and that should be on us. /rant

Friday - did heaps of walking to get to specialist appointment without taking car. Also 10 min standing leg routine - phew.

Thanks for your thoughts iron. That actually helps me understand the situation a lot. I just think it's awful that he can't even hold a civil conversation with our allies. Embarrassment to us._________________"Every weakness contains within itself a Strength."
Shūsaku Endō

Oh, absolutely agree. To me the idea is to hopefully have the best people in the top jobs, who can deal with even the toughest issues with calm strength. The world of international diplomacy must be filled with thorny issues like this one, and you don't want someone getting mad and hanging up each time.

It probably is a good time for Australia to be extra careful with our diplomacy - we've relied for years on a special relationship, built partly on shared service in WWII in the pacific and other conflicts since then in Asia and the Middle East. But it looks like the new approach is "what have you done for me lately", so we need to be wary that we don't rely on something that is no longer in place.

Tuesday - fail. Had a crazy day with our strata meeting for our units, and an overtired Squiggle who spent the afternoon having tantrums about nothing. Bleurgh. This serves me right for my last chipper check in

Cycled to and from work again today (16th), and feel much better for it.

It's probably a bit TMI, but I am on a different birth control the past 10 days and I think it is making me a bit flat. I'm feeling a bit negative and unmotivated on a lot of things at the moment, and I'm trying to identify what changed.

And then yesterday:
Ironbaby: Squiggle, guess my favourite number.
Squiggle: Green! Blue!
Ironbaby: No and no. And those aren't even numbers.

At the shops (note - the local shops stock a lot of imported fruit and veg out of season, which I refuse to buy)
Ironbaby: Mummy, there are grapes! Please, please can we have grapes?
Me: Yes, these grapes are from Western Australia, where we live, so we can buy them!
Ironbaby: Yay! I love grapes, and they are FINALLY from our planet.

Work is suddenly very busy, so I am flat out trying to get everything done in only 3 days a week. This morning was very tempting to just go on the bus and be a bit earlier, but I pushed myself to do the run. There will always be lots of busy in all areas of my life, but I am determined to make exercising a habit and priority!

Thurs 2nd March, cycled to work. Proud of this, as had nasty headache last night from walking in hot humid weather, and didn't sleep well due to thunderstorm and kids getting up.

Had a specialist appointment yesterday, and found that I'll have to have a procedure in a few weeks to cut out a skin cancer. Upside - great, no more cancer. Downside - will not be able to do any running, weights or generally anything for 4 - 6 weeks to promote wound healing and prevent reopening stitches / scarring. It's on my chest, so pretty much anything with arms, upper body and anything that will jostle the body is out. So, stuck with leisurely walking for a month.

I'm going to keep on with my C25K and my daily exercise habit until the procedure, then will need to get re-started a month of so later and try to rebuild again. Feels a bit disheartening, but life will always throw these things at you I guess.

im impressed, really exellent work with making exercise a daily practice... i love how you interchange different types of activities... it makes it more interesting and, imo, better for the body...
i just checked what couch to 5k and c25k is... sounds like something i might want to do, too... once my dog realises that running is not necesarily invitation to pull me or play with me, hahaha..._________________Age:40
BMI: 18.8
Body Fat %: 17.6
in it for maintenance and, more importantly, sanity!!

Been completely distracted by politics this weekend. We had our election here in Western Australia on Saturday. Heaps of people were very dissatisfied with the incumbents, which was a conservative / right wing government. We've had a pretty hard time here the past few years with the end of our boom and collapse of the resource sector. Lots of people lost jobs / houses etc and had to leave the state. Those not in a position to leave of course are often those who are doing it the toughest. Several of my friends were laid off while on maternity leave, which is a double blow.

Anyway, there were a few parties running, including our usual moderate left party, the Greens, and a populist, anti-immigrant, "wasn't it great in the 50's" type group. All the conservative commentators were on about how the mainstream conservatives needed to "accommodate" these nasty, ill informed, "alt right" type people in order to get elected, so they did some deals to try to support one another. And you know what? The disenfranchised, disappointed people, in the city and the country, who are struggling, who are unemployed, who can't pay the rent...they swung Left! They didn't get duped into voting conservative against their own self interest. I feel really pleased, that we realised the answer to hard times isn't blaming other races / religions / poor people for our troubles, it's getting together to take care of our people. Our state is still in a bad way, don't get me wrong, this doesn't make jobs appear out of thin air, but at least we're not taking the path of blaming the most vulnerable for our problems.

Oh wow so awesome about the election iron! I'm feeling like the rest of the world is learning from our HUGE mistake or maybe they're just smarter than us. Either way looks like I have some options for moving if it comes to that.

Thanks Linda. I don't think we're any smarter, but I think people have the benefit of hindsight - we've seen the Brexit vote and the US election, and although at first there was a lot of excitement about "sticking it" to whomever or whatever, it has seems like a big protest vote doesn't necessarily create any big positive change afterwards. Also, I think the centre left here did an ok job of connecting with people and concentrating on issues that are hurting people in the economic downturn.

Anyway, I probably won't be here much for the next month, because I'm not meant to do any exercise beyond walking for 4 - 6 weeks while I recover.

I hope your procedure goes well, and also the healing process._________________Homeschool Mom and No S returnee as of 11-30-15.
2 years and counting on No-S.
29 lbs. down, 34 to go. Slow and steady wins the race.
Respect Moderation

All good so far - they say they've got everything, so that's a relief. It's a pretty large slice, much longer than the actual cancer location, just because they needed to do a "no tension" suture, and due to the location (near my right collar bone) it's pretty visible. But they did all internal sutures, so at least there won't be any "track mark" type scarring.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. Everything went well, post-surgery tests confirm nothing missed and no chance of recurrence / spread. I am healing ok, and have just started the first of about 6 - 8 weeks of scar treatment with silicon type dressings - kinda looks like colourless jelly.

Since everything looks pretty good, I am going to re-start exercising. I'm not going to dash off running or anything, but I'm going to start stretching and strengthening from home and get back into cycling to work. It is autumn here now, so perfect cycling weather.

This also seems like a good time to recommit to Vanilla No S after an incredibly wild Easter long weekend. We went away "glamping" with our kids and caught up with a lot of family. There were egg hunts, and presents, and special lunches, and marshmallows toasted on the fire, and, and, and...
Then today I got back to work and there were chocolate and coffee cupcakes for a coworker's birthday, plus a whole bunch of eggs and so on. Seriously, I am sugared OUT. I probably won't be able to look a chocolate bunny in the eye for a whole year. Bleurgh!

So, first order of business - get through from lunch to dinner with no more "reds". Secondly, do some exercise tonight after kids are in bed. Let's do this!

Today I brought ginger cake for my birthday at work, so I had about 1/3 slice and I'm cool with that.

Sunday will be my actual birthday, and I'm having a morning tea party. Not a lot of time for exercise this weekend, lots of baking though! Hopefully will be some time for a walk or bike ride with the kids.

Thanks everyone! It was a lovely day, and didn't rain as forecast. And especially belated happy birthday to 3squaremeals!

I've had a really up and down week. Normal green Monday, then had Tuesday public holiday and a really nice day with family. Then Wed everything went downhill - our tenant put in a formal complaint to the government regarding us as landlords. It's a pretty serious thing, with large potential fines for us (up to $20k - I have no idea where we would get that kind of money). I won't go into details, but essentially she has mental health issues, including paranoia and hearing voices, and we're at our wits end trying to manage her. The neighbours in the other units are also starting to complain about her.

We've spent all our spare time since then preparing our submission to the investigation. Once this is over we're going to pay an agent to manage the unit, because we just don't feel able to handle her issues and can't cope with the stress anymore.

So, here is my Monday, 1st May recommitment to eating vanilla Green and getting back on track with exercise. I know it will make me feel better, and I will be better able to cope with the stress. I also need to start meditating regularly again, as the past week I've really felt my mind racing at times. Ugh.

Wow, that sounds like a really tough situation. Good luck with the investigation, it certainly sounds stressful. Good luck with getting back on track with vanilla green too, it's great that one of the benefits of following this diet is that it results in fewer complications rather than more._________________I CAN do this.

Your situation with your tenant sounds awful. I definitely recommend getting a property manager. It helps relieve some of the stress with renting out your property. We rent out 2 properties but we are lucky to have pretty good tenants and a great property manager.

I too am recommitting to vanilla No S for the new month as I really fell off the wagon towards the end of the month with Easter and birthday celebrations!

So sorry about the stress, ironchef. DH works in the field and he has had the experience of a truly loony person calling the Board. There was no merit in the claim-- it was truly weird-- it was dismissed and all was well, but it was very stressful for him. Hopefully the overseeing body will have had their share of nutty tenants and will respond appropriately.

Weird to read of all these rental issues on the board. DH's dad died last fall and we have his condo and were thinking of renting it out. I don't know!

Thanks everyone, truly appreciate the support and yes, hopefully the dept of commerce is reasonable. For anyone considering renting out a property - it really isn't that bad. We've self managed for 8 years and only the past 6months has been tricky.

Green yesterday and cycled to work and home again!

Weighed myself (just a single reading) at 62.1kg, so if that is correct I have put on a bit with the lack of movement since surgery and Easter / birthdays. Ah well, back to weighing daily for a while until I'm back on track.

Decided to drop in on your thread, but had to skim a lot. So sorry about your tenant issues. I'm a landlady, too. I, too, usually have things go smoothly, but when it doesn't, it sure gets me going. I had a water leak issue today. Thankfully, tenant with no water for several hours was good-natured about it, but even if not, I was doing things in good faith. I have daymares about tenants like yours. I have property managers at my little places in Utah. It costs, but I'm here and he's there. I have even thought of hiring someone for the other side of my duplex, but I need to just be a big girl for the time being. The problems are actually small and not worth my paying someone over $1,200 a year, I don't think. Hope I don't eat my words, even though they are allowed on Vanilla...

I think you've done really well getting through surgery and Easter. I mean, that's life, right? We can't wait for it to be seamless. If our eating depends on that, we're sunk._________________Count plates, not calories. Three a day. 8 years & counting
Age 64
SBMI Jan/10-30.8
Jan/12-26.8
Mar/13-24.9 Stayed at +/- 8-lb. for three years Sept/17 22.8 (but more fluctuation)
Mar/18 22.2

I mean, that's life, right? We can't wait for it to be seamless. If our eating depends on that, we're sunk.

This is so wise oolala. It took me so long to realise that I can work on stuff imperfectly NOW, not wait until I have "all my ducks in a row". There will always be something that comes up!

Good day so far today, up early enough to eat my breakfast quietly before family woke, which was very peaceful!

Our tenant is a sad story, a pensioner with no family that we know of and clearly not having her mental health properly managed. In person she is sometimes very normal and friendly, other times very anxious and paranoid. For example, she is convinced the gentleman in the next unit is a corrupt policeman who breaks in when she's not home, when he is in fact a chemistry teacher. The saddest thing is that she's told us that she is very lonely, but of course her issues mean she can't trust anyone or make any friends.

She's told us if she sits quietly she can hear the police radio, and they are discussing her and planning how to sneak up. It's no wonder she is freaking out if that's what she hears in her head.

It is very frustrating that there doesn't seem to be any action we can take to help her - all the advice we have received is that we can call police if she eventually becomes a danger to herself or others, or seriously disruptive to the neighbours. But I wish there was some way to ask a health professional or social worker to help her now, rather than having to wait until a crisis. She doesn't seem to have any quality of life, you know?

True, but it can be dicey to decide for someone else. There was a similar case in my old neighborhood when I rented. Only her death solved that issue, not self-inflicted as far as I know. It's part of the fallout of our nuclear family society. I could be that woman some day, except that I own the joint._________________Count plates, not calories. Three a day. 8 years & counting
Age 64
SBMI Jan/10-30.8
Jan/12-26.8
Mar/13-24.9 Stayed at +/- 8-lb. for three years Sept/17 22.8 (but more fluctuation)
Mar/18 22.2

Oh dear somehow I missed all this! Well I can definitely relate though things aren't quite that bad fir us. I'm so sorry you're going through this. Sounds incredibly stressful. I hope it gets sorted out soon.

I swear I want to sell that house but dh thinks it'll be good to have as part of our nest egg someday. I dunno...

Ironchef, I'm thinking you're in Australia? Is that right? Do they have an equivalent to an Office of Aging there? We have them on the county level here and they can sometimes help people over 65. I used to work with the chronically mentally ill and the Axis 1 paranoid folk are very hard to deal with-- they really just don't have any insight at all. The danger feels very real to them and talking doesn't do much. If you have low income/subsidized housing that might be a better place for her-- here at least they sometimes have social workers on staff.

Thank you ladies - I'm always amazed by the sense and support on this board!

Thanks Larkspur - good tip! I have found an organisation in my state called COTA WA (Council of the Ageing Western Australia), which includes housing and advocacy, so I will contact them and see if they have any services or advice.

If she can find a way to feel at peace in our villa I would like her to stay, but obviously we have to be able to resolve her current complaints. It is of course impossible to decide for another person what constitutes a "good life".

Cycled to work today (Wednesday). Green eating Tuesday, but no exercise. It was one of those days where I went straight from work to kids dinner/bath/bed to housework to paperwork and then looked up at 10:30pm and said "my goodness, time to sleep". This is why cycling my commute is so important: it automatically puts the exercise into my schedule.

Thanks for stopping bye. It's good to be back among the boards but I'm sorry to hear of your current stresses. I hope the next few days go a bit better but it sounds like you have your priorities well in order.

A good win for me yesterday - I met some very old friends for a drink, including some who've been working overseas, so very special to see them. Everyone else shared beignets and rum balls, but I just had a glass of wine and said "oh, I just ate a full plate of dinner at home", which was true! It was such a lovely, laugh- filled catch up. And I did not miss out by skipping those desserts, not one bit!

No, you actually gained! You got to keep faith in your word to yourself, more comfort from not overeating, the flexing and growth of your "resistance muscle," and a weakening of the bond of situational eating. All this you would have missed out on. You SCORED!_________________Count plates, not calories. Three a day. 8 years & counting
Age 64
SBMI Jan/10-30.8
Jan/12-26.8
Mar/13-24.9 Stayed at +/- 8-lb. for three years Sept/17 22.8 (but more fluctuation)
Mar/18 22.2

Is it a downer to say I almost can't believe I have another 27 years? That's how long until I would turn 90. At least there'll be cake! Hope you enjoyed every bite._________________Count plates, not calories. Three a day. 8 years & counting
Age 64
SBMI Jan/10-30.8
Jan/12-26.8
Mar/13-24.9 Stayed at +/- 8-lb. for three years Sept/17 22.8 (but more fluctuation)
Mar/18 22.2

Yes, I loved the 90th, and I know Bobby did too. He's sharp as a tack, but getting a little frail, especially his breathing troubles him in the winters. Amazing to think that at 38 I may not even be half WAY - sort of great, sort of freaky!

Win last night - had some wine with my DH after the kids were in bed. Usually this is a situation where I tend to break down and snack - he's snacking, we're "indulging ourselves" and a bit of alcohol lowers my inhibition level etc. But last night I decided I was going to enjoy my glass of wine, not join in the nuts, crackers and cheese and just focus on having a lovely conversation with my favourite man. And it worked! So there's one step in the right habit direction

Yes! Rinse and repeat!_________________Count plates, not calories. Three a day. 8 years & counting
Age 64
SBMI Jan/10-30.8
Jan/12-26.8
Mar/13-24.9 Stayed at +/- 8-lb. for three years Sept/17 22.8 (but more fluctuation)
Mar/18 22.2

I've been realising something about "normal" eating in my culture / circles - No S will lead me to be moderate, but not normal. Normal in my community and workplace means cookies from the jar with every coffee, random morning tea treats any time on any pretext, fundraising always means a cake stall, and on and on. Even the health conscious have stocks of healthy / raw / paleo snacks on hand.
So, maybe if I lived in an Italian village, my three ordinary meals would be normal. But I don't.
But the peace of vanilla No S is worth it.

Yes, it has become normal to eat for countless reasons. (But so have most cultures that have gotten more and more access to food.) If our culture supported moderation, we wouldn't need diet books, not even No S. SOME people, like Reinhard, can see the wisdom of the alternative to the "normal" culture and just do it on their own. Many of us need this kind of support (the board) to buck the "normal" system.

Vive Vanilla!_________________Count plates, not calories. Three a day. 8 years & counting
Age 64
SBMI Jan/10-30.8
Jan/12-26.8
Mar/13-24.9 Stayed at +/- 8-lb. for three years Sept/17 22.8 (but more fluctuation)
Mar/18 22.2

Ouch! I swear by slow lie-backs (rather than sit-ups)._________________Count plates, not calories. Three a day. 8 years & counting
Age 64
SBMI Jan/10-30.8
Jan/12-26.8
Mar/13-24.9 Stayed at +/- 8-lb. for three years Sept/17 22.8 (but more fluctuation)
Mar/18 22.2

Great week so far, exercise every day and just 1/2 cupcake yesterday for ironbaby's birthday. Yay!

In annoying news, our tenant has not waited for the outcome of the department of commerce investigation (which is ongoing). She has been direct to magistrates court and filed a court order - we have to appear on a work day in 2 weeks, so more time and money lost for us. We've also had a call from the police. My sympathy is done now. This is harassment, and clearly the work of a very competent person.

What bad luck. But good going on half a cupcake! May your sanity continue._________________Count plates, not calories. Three a day. 8 years & counting
Age 64
SBMI Jan/10-30.8
Jan/12-26.8
Mar/13-24.9 Stayed at +/- 8-lb. for three years Sept/17 22.8 (but more fluctuation)
Mar/18 22.2

I keep reminding myself of what I've read here over the years from other posters - that No S can be a little corner of peace and sanity in chaotic times. I'm trying to let my eating be calm, so I can feel like I have at least some of my ducks in a row, even as the other ducks are all out there quacking and trashing the place

Yes, the most recent experience is the one that feels like it's got the upper hand._________________Count plates, not calories. Three a day. 8 years & counting
Age 64
SBMI Jan/10-30.8
Jan/12-26.8
Mar/13-24.9 Stayed at +/- 8-lb. for three years Sept/17 22.8 (but more fluctuation)
Mar/18 22.2

Yes, I remember reading some fascinating research on how our brains can rewrite / reframe memories to fit our current narrative, making it seem as if something negative (or positive) has always been that way.

A beautiful long weekend here for Western Australia Day. Sunny, 25 deg C, you call this Winter? Ha! Truly feel blessed by my gorgeous family this weekend, even though 2 and 5 year olds don't always see eye to eye Managed to get lots of walking and running done, with a few yummy treats. Today back to cycling to work and yummy savouries.

Not having children, I"m fond of saying that other people's lives are racing past me._________________Count plates, not calories. Three a day. 8 years & counting
Age 64
SBMI Jan/10-30.8
Jan/12-26.8
Mar/13-24.9 Stayed at +/- 8-lb. for three years Sept/17 22.8 (but more fluctuation)
Mar/18 22.2

Yes, it is amazing to think just yesterday they were little Ironbaby and pudgy Squiggle! Definitely big kids now

Had a macaron at work today with a colleague who was announcing a new pregnancy, so a small red today. Otherwise very good this week (Wed here at the moment).

We had our court appearance today. We were in mediation with a Registrar who was very helpful and professional. Unfortunately our tenant was not able to participate constructively in the mediation, so we will now have to go forward to a full court hearing, probably in December.

The positive thing, from my point of view, is that our tenant did not manage to restrain her behaviour and the Registrar quickly recognised that she is not of sound mind. We didn't have to say anything on that topic ourselves, she was unable to even keep silent when instructed by the Registrar. She gave a very bizarre letter to the court, and also insisted she would only negotiate "with the Truth". So, a weird experience, but not too bad.

What will happen at court if she's still acting bizarre? Is there a chance the case will get thrown out? Why does it have to go that far? Waste of your time, court's time, your money, taxpayers' money... grrr._________________Count plates, not calories. Three a day. 8 years & counting
Age 64
SBMI Jan/10-30.8
Jan/12-26.8
Mar/13-24.9 Stayed at +/- 8-lb. for three years Sept/17 22.8 (but more fluctuation)
Mar/18 22.2

So sorry for all the trouble with your tenant. I'm glad the registrar realized what's going on. December is a long time to wait though!_________________Homeschool Mom and No S returnee as of 11-30-15.
2 years and counting on No-S.
29 lbs. down, 34 to go. Slow and steady wins the race.
Respect Moderation